DOVER — In the wake of Friday’s horrific tragedy, with the fatal shooting of 28 people, including 20 young children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., area residents report they are divided when it comes to a solution for the future, especially on the issue of gun control and regulation.

“I think it is awful what happened,” said Susan Randall, 19, of Dover. “People need to have guns for protection, but we need to protect the children first.”

In downtown Dover on Monday, as the country deliberated taking further legislative action on the issue, David Beam, 51, of Rochester, said he is a gun owner, and he doesn’t want to see laws change, those put in place to allow him to defend himself and his family.

“I think it’s a horrible, horrible tragedy, obviously. My wife and I have actually lost a child. My heart goes out to (the victims) ... That being said, I don’t believe had (people) collected up every gun in America, I don’t believe for one second that (shooter Adam Lanza) wouldn’t have found some way to wreak some mayhem,” Beam said. “It’s somebody that’s emotionally disturbed.”

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Eleanor Sexton

Asked if this incident would be tipping point in the gun control issue, Dover resident Kat Auger, 27, said while she hoped this would be the conversation starter, that hasn’t been the case in the past.

“We had Columbine (High School) and we talked about it for a long time and then nothing really happened. And then we had the shooting in Aurora, (Colo.), and we talked about it and nothing really happened,” she said. “I hope maybe the fact that 20 children died … I hope it is the tipping point, but I’m not sure that it might be.”

It remains to be seen whether Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting will break the usual cycle of universal shock fading into political reality. That reality is based on a combination of powerful gun lobbying and public opinion, which has shifted against tougher gun control and stayed that way. However lawmakers react this time, it’s President Barack Obama’s call whether the issue fades again or takes its place alongside the legacy-shaping initiatives of his time.

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Dave
Beam

With the murder rate less than half what it was two decades ago, and violent crime down even more in that time, gun control has declined as a political issue.

But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a gun control advocate, heard the familiar in Obama’s initial, and emotional, response.

“Not enough,” Bloomberg said of Obama’s reaction. “We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership — not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today.”

In downtown Portsmouth, Nikolaus Pfennigwerth, 30, of Kittery, Maine, argued for education as a solution, rather than increased gun control.

“I don’t think changing amendments are necessary. More education and information of conscious parenting, types of guns and use of guns, needs to be done,” he said.

“The statistics show through independent study, countries with stricter gun regulations, experience fewer gun-related deaths per year,” Cavallaro said. “I do believe there need to be measures that address the increasing complex issue of gun control in the United States.”

Several Democratic lawmakers and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman said it was time to take a deeper look into the recent spate of mass shootings and what can be done to prevent them. Gun control was a hot topic in the early 1990s, when Congress enacted a 10-year ban on assault weapons. But since that ban expired in 2004, few Americans have wanted stricter laws and politicians say they don’t want to become targets of a powerful gun-rights lobby.

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Nikolaus Pfennigwerth

Gun-rights advocates said that might all change after the latest shooting, where Lanza armed himself allegedly with an arsenal of ammunition and a high-powered rifle similar to the military’s M-16.

On Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, said it was time to discuss gun policy and move toward action on gun regulation. The conservative West Virginia Democrat said Monday he agrees with Bloomberg, who has advocated banning the sale of assault weapons in the past.

Aaron Tester, 35, of Dover said he believes with the severity of the Connecticut shooting incident, gun control will certainly become a growing “heated topic” in the weeks ahead.

Durham resident Eleanor Sexton, 65, said, “killing children is pretty much going about as low as you can go, so maybe it is” the tipping point.

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Sarah Randall

Sexton noted her cousin is involved in law enforcement and lives in Connecticut. Last Friday, he wished to take his children to the movie theater but hesitated and asked himself, “Should I bring my gun?”

“Can you believe that,” Sexton posed, noting she is strongly against the idea of gun ownership. “‘Should I bring my gun?’”